The present disclosure relates generally to energy absorber elements for use in a vehicle, for example, to reduce injuries (e.g., to occupant(s), pedestrian(s), etc.) and/or vehicle damage.
Increased importance has been placed on methods for minimizing the amount of injury suffered by a person in an accident as well as the amount of vehicle damage. Different regulatory committees assess automotive pedestrian and occupant impact performance globally. Depending on the overall performance, vehicles get a cumulative safety rating. Each and every component of the vehicle needs to satisfy the specific impact criteria in order to ensure a good overall rating for the vehicle.
With respect to vehicle damage, for example, due to their placement at the front or the corners of the vehicle, the headlamps of the vehicle are one of the locations most contacted by a pedestrian in an impact, or damaged in an impact with another vehicle. Several different designs have been proposed for minimizing pedestrian injury during an impact as well as damage to headlamps or headlights. Some of them require significant structural modifications to the headlamp which increase its volume, weight, and/or cost. Others require structural modification to the chassis surrounding the headlamp area. Generally, headlamps are provided in a single assembly comprising a lens, a housing, a light source, a bezel, and a reflector. If there is even very limited damage to any component of the headlamp assembly, the entire assembly may have to be replaced. This results in a high replacement or maintenance cost.
This generates the need to design a uniform energy absorption concept that will deform and absorb impact energy to ensure good vehicle safety rating. Different components due to their inherent geometry and assembly requirements need different energy absorber design to satisfy the impact criteria. Therefore, the automotive industry is continually seeking economic solutions to improve overall safety rating of a vehicle. Hence, there is a continual need to provide a solution which would enhance a vehicle safety rating and/or reduce vehicle damage.
There is also a need to reduce replacement and maintenance costs, particularly costs associated with low impact energy incidents. A product and/or method that reduces or eliminates damage to an impacted vehicle component and thereby reduces the need to replace that component is desired.